CLEAN, GREEN AND NUCLEAR

June 8, 2006

Nuclear energy is the only large-scale, cost-effective energy source that can reduce green house gas emissions while continuing to satisfy a growing demand for power. And these days nuclear energy can do it safely, says Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace and chairman of Greenspirit Strategies Ltd.

For example:

The 103 nuclear plants operating in the United States effectively avoid the release of 700 million tons of CO(2) emissions annually -- the equivalent of the exhaust from more than 100 million automobiles.

Nuclear energy is one of the least-expensive energy sources; in 2004, the average cost of producing nuclear energy in the United States was less than 2 cents per kilowatt-hour, comparable with coal and hydroelectric.

Last month, Japan joined France, Britain and Russia in the nuclear-fuel-recycling business; now that the United States has removed the ban on recycling used fuel, it will be possible to greatly reduce the amount of waste that needs treatment and disposal.

Imagine if the ratio of coal to nuclear were reversed so that only 20 percent of our electricity was generated from coal and 60 percent from nuclear. This would go a long way toward cleaning the air and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, says Moore.